UFC Still Working on Four-Show Japanese Series for 2013, but It’s Not Finalized

AsianMMA.com brought you the news on Wednesday that the UFC was planning to put on a series of four events in 2013 that focused on Japanese talent, ultimately selecting some of them to fight on some of the bigger UFC fight cards. The plan was to hold these events in smaller venues and focus mainly on Japanese talent. The news was initially put out by Japanese sports newspaper NikkanSports.

Mark Fischer, executive vice president and managing director of UFC Asia, spoke with AsianMMA.com via email on Thursday to give us a better idea as to what was going on with the UFC’s plans in Japan.

When it comes to the idea of holding a series of events in Japan next year, Fischer stated that things may have been taken a bit out of context. Whereas the article seemed to have an undertone that the plan was good to go, Fischer stated that the company is still in a phase of simply looking at the idea.

According to Fischer, while the concept of a Japanese series is out there, many steps remain to actually get the series a green lit into a plan the company could fully execute.

If such a plan is put into play, the company will make a formal announcement about how they will go forward with them. What we did learn is that they are studying the concept.

So while nothing is concrete regarding the four-part series in 2013, the idea is certainly on the table at Zuffa.